National Accounts (Income and Expenditure): Year ended March 2012

Transcription

1 National Accounts (Income and Expenditure): Year ended March 2012 Embargoed until 10:45am 21 November 2012 Key facts In the year ended March 2012: Current price gross domestic product (GDP) increased 3.7 percent, while GDP per capita increased 2.9 percent. National disposable income increased 3.9 percent, with compensation of employees (mainly wages and salaries) up 4.0 percent and business profits (gross operating surplus) up 1.7 percent. Final consumption expenditure increased 4.8 percent, with household spending up 5.0 percent. Investment in fixed assets (gross fixed capital formation) increased 0.7 percent, with a decrease in residential and non-residential building offset by increases in plant, machinery, and equipment, and other construction (infrastructure). National saving was $1.4 billion, compared with $2.8 billion in Household saving decreased to negative $144 million. Government saving increased $0.6 billion but remains negative at -$2.5 billion. Geoff Bascand Government Statistician 21 November 2012 ISSN

2 Commentary Gross domestic product and expenditure both increase National disposable income increases 3.9 percent Spending increases National saving down to $1.4 billion Investment up, despite fall in residential building Household saving drops slightly General government saving trend continues Profits up for producer enterprises and financial intermediaries This release provides national accounts income and expenditure estimates for the New Zealand economy. It also provides a breakdown by institutional sector. This release accompanies National Accounts (Industry Benchmarks): Year ended March 2010 and presents provisional estimates for the March 2011 and 2012 years. The full breakdown by institutional sector is available for 1999 to Provisional estimates up to 2012 are available for all sectors components of GDP, and for detailed government and household sector accounts. We are changing the way that financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM) are included in the national accounts, to conform to the treatment recommended in the international System of National Accounts. The introduction of FISIM has resulted in revisions. The implementation of FISIM has resulted in an increase in the level of GDP and nearly all interest values. The average impact on GDP was a 0.7 percent upward shift over the last 10 years. Also, the effects of the Canterbury earthquakes have been reflected. For more information on technical details see: Financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM) in the national accounts Accounting for the economic effects of the Canterbury earthquakes. All dollar figures are in current prices (unless otherwise stated). Gross domestic product and expenditure both increase Gross domestic product increased 3.7 percent in the March 2012 year, less than in 2011 (up 5.0 percent). The 2012 increase reflects a 4.0 percent rise in compensation of employees, following a 3.0 percent rise in the previous year. Gross operating surplus (business profits) rose 1.7 percent in 2012, less than in 2011 (up 5.6 percent). GDP passed the $200 billion mark (in current prices) for the first time in Compensation of employees of $91 billion and business profits of $87 billion contributed the most to total GDP. Final consumption expenditure (spending) by households and government rose 4.8 percent. In the year ended March 2012: Household consumption expenditure increased 5.0 percent, following an increase of 4.1 percent in Government final consumption expenditure rose 4.2 percent (reflecting an increase in earthquake-related expenditure), following an increase of 3.7 percent in

3 Gross fixed capital formation (investment in fixed assets) for the domestic economy remained almost unchanged in 2012, up 0.7 percent. In the year ended March 2012: Government sector investment increased 2.0 percent, with an increase for local government mostly offset by a decline for central government. Household investment in fixed assets declined 9.8 percent, showing little sign of the Canterbury rebuild yet. Private business investment was up 0.2 percent. Net exports weakened in 2012 but remained positive. The increase in exports slowed to 5.4 percent, down from 10.3 percent in 2011, while imports had a strong increase (up 7.7 percent) due to the rise in household consumption. National disposable income increases 3.9 percent The total income received by New Zealand residents in 2012 was $166 billion, an increase of 3.9 percent. Compensation of employees and taxes on production and imports contributed the most to the increase. Net investment income paid to the rest of the world increased to $10.4 billion in 2012, compared with $9.9 billion in National disposable income is the amount available to New Zealand residents (from all sources, both domestic and overseas) for current spending or saving. For corporations this is the amount available for investment, as they don't conceptually have final consumption, within the national accounts framework 3

4 Spending increases New Zealand resident households spent $120 billion in 2012, up 5.0 percent from the previous year. Local government expenditure rose to $5.3 billion (up 11.9 percent) in 2012, and central government spending increased to $36 billion (up 3.2 percent). Total spending in 2012 was $165 billion. National saving down to $1.4 billion National saving (saving by the domestic sectors) decreased $1.3 billion in 2012 to $1.4 billion. Household saving was slightly negative (-$144 million), with household consumption edging above disposable income. General government saving for 2012 was up from 2011, but expenditure exceeded income by $2.5 billion. It should be noted that the implementation of FISIM has no effect on national saving, or on saving for any of the sectors, even though it increases GDP. Investment up, despite fall in residential building Investment in fixed assets rose 0.7 percent in 2012, compared with a rise of 2.1 percent in The 2012 investment level is still $5.1 billion below the $42.4 billion peak of Government investment in fixed assets rose 2.0 percent, while private investment remained almost unchanged (up 0.2 percent). 4

5 Investment in residential buildings fell 9.6 percent in Investment in non-residential buildings also fell (down 6.6 percent). This fall was more than offset by increases in plant, machinery, and equipment, up 8.5 percent, and other construction (infrastructure), up 10.1 percent. Inventories increased for the second year in a row, with a build-up of $1.8 billion in 2012, following a previous build-up of $1.1 billion in Household saving drops slightly Households continued to almost match their income and spending, which is a turnaround from a period of dissaving before In 2012 household spending outweighed income by $144 million. On average, over the last 10 years household spending exceeded income by $4.0 billion. Household spending rose 5.0 percent, up from $114.5 billion to $120.3 billion, outpacing disposable income. Disposable income increased 4.6 percent to $120.1 billion. The increase in household spending was partly due to the increase in goods and services tax (GST), from 12.5 percent to 15 percent in October Compensation of employees rose 4.0 percent, and was an important contributor to the increase in disposable income. Entrepreneurial income increased 1.1 percent in 2012, following an increase of 19.1 percent in the previous year. Entrepreneurial income has recovered after the decline in 2009, which reflected the economic downturn caused by the global financial crisis. Investment income also showed signs of recovery, increasing 7.5 percent in This followed two years of decline, down 11.0 percent in 2010 and down 11.1 percent in Social assistance benefits in cash continue to increase as economic uncertainty remains. These were up 5.9 percent in 2012, compared with an increase of 4.9 percent in the previous year. 5

6 General government saving trend continues Saving for general government (local and central government) improved $0.6 billion in 2012 but remained negative. The improvement in saving was due to an increase in central government disposable income (up 5.6 percent). Taxes received by local and central government increased to $62.4 billion, up 4.4 percent, in In comparison, spending by local and central government was up 4.2 percent, in part reflecting increased expenditure related to the Canterbury earthquakes. Central government spending increased 3.2 percent, from $35.1 billion to $36.2 billion in Local government spending increased 11.9 percent, up $0.6 billion to $5.3 billion. General government investment in fixed assets increased 0.9 percent, with an increase in local government investment offset by a decline in central government. Profits up for producer enterprises and financial intermediaries A provisional breakdown of national gross operating surplus and compensation of employees by institutional sector is available for the first time in this release. We welcome feedback on the usefulness of this information. Gross operating surplus (business profits) for producer enterprises were up 1.1 percent in 2012, following an increase of 6.1 percent in Financial intermediaries' profits increased 6.9 percent in 2012, following an increase of 0.3 percent in the previous year. Producer enterprises paid compensation to employees (mainly salaries and wages) of $65.0 billion in 2012, up 4.7 percent. Financial intermediaries paid compensation to employees of $3.3 billion in This was up 5.3 percent from the previous year. Detailed analysis is available for 1999 to

7 In 2010, producer enterprises earned profits of $63.7 billion. Their total income was $96.4 billion and they paid out $72.7 billion. The largest outlays were: entrepreneurial withdrawals of $18.0 billion to households dividends of $23.5 billion to shareholders interest of $22.6 billion to banking service providers. After accounting for depreciation (consumption of fixed capital), producer enterprises recorded saving of $3.0 billion. Producer enterprises were net lenders, which means they provided financing to other sectors. Their net lending position in 2010 was $2.7 billion. In 2010, financial intermediaries earned income of $39.3 billion. Their main source of income was interest received ($25.7 billion) and they paid out $24.6 billion in interest. Overall their income exceeded their outlays. After accounting for depreciation (consumption of fixed capital), financial intermediaries saved $1.6 billion. Financial intermediaries were net lenders. Their net lending position in 2010 was $1.7 billion. In this release, FISIM is introduced to the national accounts statistics. This means that the financial service charge, a previously unallocated item presented for this sector, is no longer required. Although FISIM increases GDP, it has no effect on saving for any of the sectors, including the financial intermediaries. FISIM is a charge for the services from banking services providers (banks and similar institutions). For more detailed data, see the Excel tables in the 'Downloads' box. 7

8 Definitions About National Accounts (Income and Expenditure) This release is part of the suite of national accounts statistics that reflect the New Zealand economy. It provides production, income and outlay, and capital accounts for the nation and the six sectors of the economy: producer enterprises, financial intermediaries, government, nonprofit institutions serving households, households, and the rest of the world. The sector accounts provide information on the economic activities of the sectors and their interactions. The accounts are structured in sequence to show how income is generated and used. Important economic indicators can be derived from the sector accounts. These include measures such as household saving, the profit share of corporations, and investments of the household and corporate sectors. More definitions Actual collective consumption: value of the collective (as opposed to individual) consumption services provided to a community by general government (central and local). Derived from final consumption expenditure by taking away the value of social transfers in kind. Actual final consumption: goods and services acquired by households, whether purchased by them directly, or by government or non-profit institutions on their behalf. Actual individual consumption: household consumption of goods and services acquired by purchase, government transfer, or private non-profit services to households. All private non-profit services are treated as individual consumption (social transfers in kind). Balance on the external current account: excess of current receipts over current disbursements. Balance sheets: measure the values of stocks of assets or liabilities. They are typically compiled at the beginning and end of the accounting period. Capital account: records all transactions of non-financial assets, and how these are financed after net capital transfers have been accounted for. Net lending is the balancing item of the capital account. Capital transfer: a transaction in which one institutional unit provides a capital asset to another unit without receiving anything in return. Central government (excluding funded social security schemes): the organisational units of central government responsible for such functions as taxation, law and order, and defence, and those responsible for advancing the economic and social well-being of the country. State-owned enterprises and funded social security schemes are excluded. Central government enterprises: trading departments of central government and state-owned enterprises. Change in inventories: the change in the value of inventories of raw materials, work-inprogress, and finished goods, over a given period. The change is measured in the appropriate prices in the market at the time additions and withdrawals are made. 8

9 Compensation of employees: payments of salaries and wages, whether in cash or in kind (such as fringe benefits), to employees. Includes contributions paid on employees' behalf to superannuation funds, private pension schemes, the Accident Compensation Corporation, and redundancy payments. Salaries and wages are the major component. Compensation of employees to/from the rest of the world: compensation that residents of one country earn from employment in another country. Consumption of fixed capital: decline in the value of fixed assets used in production, as a result of physical deterioration and normal obsolescence. Current transfers from the rest of the world, net: all current transfers other than investment income. Disposable income: the balancing item in the secondary distribution of income account. It is derived from the balance of primary incomes of the institutional sector by: adding all current transfers (except social transfers in kind) receivable by that unit or sector, and subtracting all current transfers (except social transfers in kind) payable by that unit or sector. Dissaving: results when consumption is greater than income. Entrepreneurial income: an enterprise's operating surplus (or mixed income), plus property income receivable on the assets owned by the enterprise, less interest payable on the enterprise's liabilities and rents payable on land or other tangible non-produced assets rented by the enterprise. Exports of goods and services: all goods and services produced by New Zealand residents and purchased by the rest of the world. Exports of merchandise are valued free-on-board. Final consumption expenditure: private final consumption expenditure is the sum of household outlays on consumer goods and services, and the spending on non-capital items by private nonprofit organisations serving households. General government final consumption expenditure includes both central and local government spending. Financial account: records changes in financial assets and liabilities that underlie the current and capital transactions in the production, income and outlay, and capital account. Gross domestic product (GDP): total market value of goods and services produced in New Zealand, minus the cost of goods and services used in the production process. Gross fixed capital formation: outlays of producers on durable fixed assets (eg buildings, motor vehicles, plant and machinery, hydro-electric construction, roading, and improvements to land). 'Gross' indicates that consumption of fixed capital is not deducted from the value of the outlays. Gross national disposable income: total income of New Zealand residents, from all sources, that is available for final consumption or saving, after net payment of current transfers to the rest of the world. Gross national expenditure: total final spending on goods and services by New Zealand residents within a given period (ie excluding goods and services used up during the production process). 9

10 Gross national income: all income received by New Zealand residents as a result of participating in a production process (domestic or foreign) or as a result of the assets they own. This income consists of remuneration of employees, interest, dividends, taxes, and subsidies related to production, and imports. Gross operating surplus: surplus generated by operating activities after the labour input has been compensated. Household sector: New Zealand-resident individuals, families, whānau, hapū and subsidiary iwi (not rūnanga iwi) in their role as final consumers and as owners of factors of production. Imports of goods and services: all goods and services produced by the rest of the world and purchased by New Zealand residents. Imports of merchandise are valued at value for duty. Income and outlay account: records factor incomes and the subsequent redistributive flows not associated with production. Saving is derived as the residual and represents the part of disposable income that is not spent on final consumption goods and services. Institutional sectors: the five broad economic sectors that make up the total economy, as classified under New Zealand Standard Institutional Sector Classification (NZISC): producer enterprises (sector 1) financial intermediaries (sector 2) general government (sector 3) private non-profit organisations serving households (sector 4) the household sector (sector 5). A sector for the rest of the world (sector 6), exists for transactions between New Zealandresident units and non-residents. Institutional sectors group transactors in the economy according to their broad economic role. Institutional unit: an entity that is capable, in its own right, of owning assets, incurring liabilities, and engaging in economic activities and in transactions with other entities. There are two main types of institutional unit: persons or groups of persons in the form of households legal or social entities whose existence is recognised by law or society independently of the persons, or other entities, that may own or control them. Legal or social entities that engage in economic activities in their own right such as corporations, private non-profit organisations serving households, or government units are institutional units as they are responsible and accountable for the economic decisions or actions they take. Institutional units are allocated to sector according to the nature of the economic activity they undertake. Intermediate consumption: value of all goods and services consumed as inputs during the production process. Investment income to/from the rest of the world: income accruing to New Zealand residents for providing financial capital to non-residents/income accruing to non-residents for providing financial capital to New Zealand residents. It includes dividends, interest, reinvested earnings, and other investment income. 10

11 Local government: the non-trading organisations of local government that are responsible for activities such as dog control, town planning, libraries, museums, maintaining roads and drainage, and providing other sanitary services, as well as the general administration of territorial authorities. Local government enterprises: trading divisions of local authorities and local authority trading enterprises. Net lending to the rest of the world: excess of the net acquisition of financial assets New Zealand has acquired over the net liabilities it has incurred (recorded in the national capital account). Net saving corporations: equal to the gross income receivable by corporations less income payable and consumption of fixed capital. Income receivable by corporations includes gross operating surplus, property income, and current transfers. Net saving general government: the surplus of general government gross income over current use of income. Current use of income includes final consumption expenditure and current transfers. Net saving households: equal to gross household disposable income less household final consumption expenditure and consumption of fixed capital. Household saving is estimated as the balancing item in the household income account. NZSNA: New Zealand System of National Accounts is a comprehensive accounting framework based on an international standard (System of National Accounts 1993). The structure and content of the NZSNA transforms the economic transactions that take place each day into a framework, to analyse and compare important economic variables over time. Output: value of goods and services produced during a time period, regardless of whether they are produced for sale or own use. Primary income: income directly linked to the production process: compensation of employees gross operating surplus entrepreneurial income net taxes on production property income (rent on natural resources, interest, dividends, and earnings attributed to insurance policyholders). Primary incomes exclude social contribution and benefits, and current taxes on income, wealth, and other current transfers. Private corporate producer enterprises: a subgroup that includes incorporated enterprises, co-operatives and business associations that are recognised as independent legal entities through registration under acts of Parliament. Private non-corporate producer enterprises: a subgroup that includes unincorporated enterprises, partnerships, and sole proprietorships engaged in a measurable amount of productive activity. In practice, this means that only enterprises that keep accounts adequate for taxation purposes are included. Where adequate accounts are not kept, production is generally an extension of the owner's household activity, and is therefore included in sector 5 (households). 11

12 Private non-profit organisations serving households: non-market non-profit organisations that provide goods or services to households, either free or at prices or fees that are not economically significant, and usually mainly provide services to their own members (eg trade unions, professional or learned societies, consumers associations, and political parties). Producer enterprises: enterprises (whether incorporated or unincorporated) that are mainly engaged in producing goods and services in New Zealand and selling these at market prices. They include all entities operating in New Zealand, irrespective of where the owners reside. Production account: has two parts: non-market and market. These two parts record the current value of goods and services produced, and the costs associated in producing them. Key items measured in this account are services for own use (for non-market activity) and value added (for market activity). Property income: income receivable by the owner of a financial asset, or a tangible nonproduced asset, in return for providing funds to, or putting the tangible non-produced asset (usually land and subsoil assets) at the disposal of, another institutional unit. The owners are entitled to receive property incomes in the form of interest and dividends. Owners of land and subsoil assets may receive property income in the form of rent. Purchases of non-produced non-financial assets from the rest of the world, net saving: purchase or sale of intangible, non-financial assets such as patents, copyrights, trademarks, franchises, and licences; and acquisition of land by a government or international organisation, or the disposal of land. Secondary income: covers redistribution in the form of current transfers, including current taxes on wealth and income, social security, and pension transfers. Services for own use: the non-market production of services for consumption within the same unit. For example meal preparation, child care and training, cleaning, and repairs within the same household. Statistical discrepancy: in the NZSNA, the items making up GDP and expenditure on GDP are estimated independently, using diverse data sources. The combination of survey and other measurement and timing errors in the various components results in a difference between the estimates, known as the statistical discrepancy. The discrepancy is outside the GDP and expenditure on GDP calculations. Subsidies: government grants to market-oriented producers who regard the transfers as an addition to income from current production (eg payments to ensure a guaranteed price, or to enable market prices of goods and services to be held below the cost of production). Tangible fixed assets: houses, other buildings and structures, machinery and equipment, and cultivated assets. Tangible non-produced assets: land, subsoil assets, non-cultivated biological resources, and water resources. Environmental assets over which ownership rights have not, or cannot, be enforced, such as international waters or air space, are excluded. Taxes on production and imports: taxes that producers pay for the production, sale, purchase, and use of goods and services, and which add to the market prices of those goods and services. Includes sales tax, local authority rates, import and excise duties, and fringe benefit tax. Goods and services tax is included in the consolidated accounts. 12

13 Value added: income formed in the production process. Value added equals output minus intermediate consumption. Value added is the income available to reward the production factors involved. 13

14 Related links Upcoming releases We intend to release National Accounts (Income and Expenditure): Year ended March 2013 in November The release calendar lists all our upcoming information releases by date of release. Past releases Institutional Sector Accounts has links to past releases. National Accounts has links to past releases. Related information National accounts (industry benchmarks) provide detailed industry data on production, investment, and capital stock. They provides benchmarks for the level of economic activity, which update and maintain the quality of quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) statistics. National accounts (industry benchmarks) are consistent with the information provided in this release. Gross domestic product provides quarterly statistics of New Zealand's official measure of economic growth. Accounting for the economic effects of the 2010/11 Canterbury earthquakes in New Zealand s national accounts. Financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM) in the national accounts. 14

15 Data quality Period-specific information This section contains information about data that has changed since the last release. Changes to the content and titles of the annual national accounts releases Published figures General information This section has information that does not change between releases. Information about the tables Summary analysis tables by institutional sector The concept of saving/s Methodology for compiling the accounts Special features of New Zealand data and methods Future development of methodology Period-specific information Changes to the content and titles of the annual national accounts releases National Accounts (Income and Expenditure): this annual release provides information about income, expenditure, and saving for the six sectors of the economy: producer enterprises, financial intermediaries, government, non-profit institutions serving households, households, and the rest of the world. This replaces the previous Institutional Sector Accounts release. This release also includes the consolidated accounts of the nation, which record the incomes earned by various groups within the economy, their consumption and investment, and the economic relationship with the rest of the world. These tables were previously part of the National Accounts release. Published figures The figures for the March 2011 and 2012 years are provisional. Note that data may not sum to stated totals due to rounding. Data for 2011 includes the GST increase from 12.5 percent to 15.0 percent on 1 October National Accounts (Income and Expenditure): Year ended March 2013 will provide provisional estimates for the year ended March 2013 and revised estimates for the years ended March 2011 and The revisions will result from more up-to-date information becoming available, including detailed results from the Annual Enterprise Survey. The statistics for the years up to 2010 are consistent with National Accounts (Industry Benchmarks): Year ended March Financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM) will be included in National Accounts (Income and Expenditure) and National Accounts (Industry Benchmarks) releases for the first time. For more information on FISIM, please see the 'Revisions' section of this release. 15

16 General information Information about the tables In New Zealand's national accounting system, data is presented as a set of self-balancing and interrelated accounts. These are: production, income and outlay, capital, financial, reconciliation accounts, and balance sheets. For each sector, or the economy as a whole, the following accounts are compiled. Production account The production account records the current value of goods and services produced and the costs associated with their production. Value added is the sum of all production (output) less the consumption of intermediate goods and services in the production process. The production of all resident institutional sectors sums to national production (or gross domestic product). GDP and expenditure on GDP Gross domestic product is a measure of the value added from all economic activity in New Zealand. This account shows the main forms of income generated by the economy and the categories of final expenditure on the gross domestic product. Income and outlay account This account shows the income received from the various factors of production and how this income is either redistributed or used for final consumption expenditure across the sectors. The balancing item is national saving, which is a major source of finance for investment in assets or for reducing financial liabilities. Capital account The capital account records net capital transfers, consumption of fixed capital (depreciation), and net purchases of non-financial assets, inventories, and fixed assets. It also shows whether capital expenditure is financed from saving generated within the current period or from borrowing. The balancing item is net lending. External account This account brings together all transactions with the rest of the world and is in two parts: current and capital. The current account records receipts and disbursements for merchandise trade, services, international investment income and transfers, while the capital account introduces net capital transfers. The residual records New Zealand s net lending/borrowing with the rest of the world. The items in this account are derived from the overseas balance of payments statistics. Within any sector, these three accounts share variables. The production account is linked to the income and outlay account through value added, which represents the income available to distribute. The income and outlay account is linked to the capital account through saving, which is the total amount available to invest or retain for future use. The capital account is linked to the production account through consumption of fixed capital in the production process. We have not yet developed financial accounts, reconciliation accounts, or balance sheets. 16

17 Summary analysis tables by institutional sector The summary analysis tables are a re-expression of the sector tables. They bring together the aggregated flows for each sector and highlight the links between the sector accounts and the consolidated national accounts. The tables include the rest of the world sector, presented from the viewpoint of an overseas resident. Interest paid, for example, is shown as a positive amount representing interest earned by overseas enterprises from investment in New Zealand. Similarly, in most years net lending with the rest of the world is shown as a positive total. This reflects that the rest of the world is a net lender to New Zealand. Factor income The production account section of the tables distinguishes current transactions beginning with factor incomes generated from the production of goods and services. Gross domestic product (GDP) equals the sum of factor incomes plus consumption of fixed capital (which is recorded in the capital account). Income and outlay This section of the tables summarises transactions related to the redistribution of the factor incomes. All expenditure transactions in the table (subsidies paid by government, inter-sector transfer payments, consumption, balance on external goods and services, and capital accumulation) are presented as negative entries. Therefore, saving or net lending can be computed simply by adding all the component transactions that appear in the factor income and income and outlay sections. For some variables, the receipts and payments have been presented in the same row, usually for variables where the inter-sector flows are in one direction. For example, the income tax row has government receiving income tax (positive entry), while the other domestic sectors are paying income tax to the government sector (negative entries). Expenditure and saving Current transactions relate to final demand (consumption and balance on external goods and services). The balance on external goods and services is exports of goods and services less imports of goods and services. Gross domestic expenditure equals consumption and balance on external goods and services plus net investment on fixed assets and inventories, recorded in the capital account. Saving is the residual item. Capital account The capital account summarises capital transactions, presenting the sources of funding followed by the various types of capital accumulation. Net lending is the residual item. The concept of saving/s Saving is estimated as the residual between total income and outlay components. Income and expenditure estimates (including interest and dividend flows) are reconciled within the institutional sector framework. 17

18 If we produced the full set of institutional accounts, including balance sheets, we would be able to derive a 'savings' estimate. This 'savings' estimate is also called a net worth or wealth estimate and found in the balance sheets. 'Savings' is, for example, the market value of a sector s stock of assets less the market value of its stock of liabilities (capital gains). Wealth or net worth can be seen as the accumulated stock of saving. Wealth estimates are outside the current scope of the institutional sector accounts. Saving excludes the following items that affect net worth: capital gains (or holding gains), which reflect changes in the prices of existing assets and therefore do not represent additions to real stock of produced assets capital transfers, which reflect changes in ownership of existing assets events such as the Christchurch earthquake, which result in changes in the real stock of existing assets but do not reflect an economic transaction. An example of how household sector saving (as measured in this release) differs from the change in net worth (savings) is illustrated as follows. An increase in the value of the owneroccupied housing stock is included in measures of household net worth but not included in household saving. However, increases in mortgage interest payments related to increases in housing values do affect (reduce) household saving. This means that measuring saving as a flow measure (income not spent) or net worth (savings) as a stock measure (change in net worth) are not competing methodologies. Instead, the key objective should be to reconcile them in a full set of accounts. Methodology for compiling the accounts The income and expenditure accounts are compiled by transaction (flows). Each transaction is allocated to sectors separately, and then full-sector accounts are compiled. Business surveys and administrative data are the principal data sources for most transactions in the national accounts statistics. Business surveys, such as the Annual Enterprise Survey, collect information on financial flows and productive activity. We supplement our surveys and administrative data with data from other sources (eg Reserve Bank data is used to estimate household interest flows). Large financial flows are reconciled as far as possible at the enterprise level. For example, large dividends paid by New Zealand-resident enterprises in the balance of payments statistics are checked against dividends paid recorded in business surveys. Large inter-company flows are also cross-checked. Where the data sources are inconsistent, other sources (including annual reports) are consulted, and the source data is then adjusted. By this reconciliation process the gap between national totals for transactions (such as interest paid and interest received) are brought close together. A final adjustment is made to match the flows exactly. In general, gross data is recorded. Even between institutional units within the same sub-sector, receipts are not netted off payments, and vice versa. Where inter-company financial flows are recorded in unconsolidated form, level shifts in some series can occur that are entirely due to the inter-company flows. An example of this would be a company receiving a dividend from a subsidiary, then passing on the same dividend to an overseas parent company. In the accounts such a dividend is effectively recorded several times: paid by the subsidiary and the company, and received by the company and the rest of world, respectively. For large dividends, payments have been matched against receipts, and the accounts are correct on a grossed up basis. 18

19 Standard treatments concepts Capital gains and losses Capital gains and losses associated with holding or trading capital and financial assets are recorded in reconciliation accounts. Therefore, these gains/losses are excluded from the concept of saving. Owner-occupied dwellings Ownership of owner-occupied dwellings is a market activity undertaken by households. Both gross fixed capital formation and intermediate consumption are excluded from final consumption expenditure. This is because expenditure associated with purchasing of owner-occupied dwellings is classified as gross fixed capital formation, and expenditure on alterations and maintenance is classified as intermediate consumption. Payment of imputed rent by owneroccupiers is included in final consumption expenditure. This measures an income flow back to households, valued at market rates. Consumption of fixed capital (depreciation) is recorded separately in the household capital account. Consequently, the saving residual in the household income and outlay account is net of depreciation on owner-occupied dwellings. Pension and social security schemes According to the NZSNA, income for life insurance and superannuation and pension schemes is imputed. Employer contributions to these schemes are part of an individual s income. Since the accumulated pension and superannuation funds are regarded as household assets, interest earned by the funds is included in household income. To avoid double-counting this income, actual pension payments are treated as a rundown in assets. Internationally, there may be differences in where the line is drawn between funded social security schemes (not classified as part of private saving) and funded pension schemes (usually for state employees). The estimates do not include income earned by New Zealand residents investment in overseas pension funds, due to the difficulty of measurement. Insurance premiums and pension-fund contributions Only the service or administration charge component of insurance premiums and pension-fund contributions paid by households is treated as final consumption expenditure. The balance is treated as a transfer payment and classified as secondary income payable. Special features of New Zealand data and methods Data users should be aware of a number of features of New Zealand's business, tax, and historical context when viewing these accounts. Relationship between unincorporated businesses and households The relationship between households and businesses, especially small, owner-operated businesses, may be blurred in many ways. Household owners of businesses may hold property through years of losses, expecting capital gains sale. 19

20 Business debts may be held within the household sector rather than the business sector. Some final consumption of households that operate farms may be reported as business (farm) expenses. Statistics NZ classifies unincorporated enterprises to the producer (business) sector. Only the net entrepreneurial income from the business is included as a profit transfer in the household account no retained earnings (saving) of unincorporated businesses are included in the producer sector. The total net earnings are recorded as being transferred to the household owners, where they mix with other sources of household income before income tax is assessed. While every effort is made to ensure that business-related expenses are excluded from household consumption expenditure, any that remain will overstate household outlays. Since household owners withdraw all net current income from unincorporated businesses, any actual retained earnings of these businesses has to be shown as a capital contribution from householders. Consequently, household saving is also a source of finance for capital accumulation in the unincorporated producers sector. Net lending for the household sector therefore reflects the lending to the unincorporated businesses they own. The exception to this occurs where households with rental property businesses hold property through years of losses, expecting capital gains when they sell. This is the reason negative saving is recorded in the unincorporated producers sector. Dividend imputation credits As dividend imputation credits are essentially a tax credit, dividends are estimated net of these credits. Future development of methodology Future methodological changes may cause revisions to the institutional sector accounts. The following areas warrant further investigation. While investigation is underway we expect to fully address these and potentially other issues over the next couple of years. Trust income Family trusts are an increasingly popular means of holding productive real and financial assets. In the national accounts, family trusts, as the owners of household assets, are classified to the household sector. Income earned by the trust is included in household income. However, the different forms of asset ownership possible are quite complex, as are the ways in which the relevant trust flows might be captured in the source data used to compile the accounts. Trust income (especially beneficiary income) is recorded in household income. In principle, some may be recorded in the producer sector. Inland Revenue statistics suggest that this component of trustee income has increased significantly in recent years. Retained earnings Under New Zealand law, qualifying companies (by treating the company and its shareholders as one entity as much as possible for income tax purposes) allow a number of tax benefits. Analysis suggests that after changes to the top personal income tax rate in 2000, a greater proportion of earnings were retained within these companies rather than paid out to the working proprietors (as entrepreneurial withdrawals). This is reflected in the institutional sector accounts, where the retained earnings of corporations are not reported as household income. Given that the working 20

21 proprietor has ready access to the retained earnings of the company, saving recorded in the household income and outlay account was lower than it might be without this particular tax law. Transfers Additional analysis of transfers may include a further review of government internal transfers, as these do not always net out. Liability While all care and diligence has been used in processing, analysing, and extracting data and information in this publication, Statistics NZ gives no warranty it is error-free and will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by the use directly, or indirectly, of the information in this publication. Timing Timed statistical releases are delivered using postal and electronic services provided by third parties. Delivery of these releases may be delayed by circumstances outside the control of Statistics NZ. Statistics NZ accepts no responsibility for any such delays. Crown copyright This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence. You are free to copy, distribute, and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to Statistics NZ and abide by the other licence terms. Please note you may not use any departmental or governmental emblem, logo, or coat of arms in any way that infringes any provision of the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act Use the wording 'Statistics New Zealand' in your attribution, not the Statistics NZ logo. 21

22 Revisions This release contains revisions arising from new and more up-to-date information. It incorporates the National Accounts (Industry Benchmarks): Year ended March 2010 statistics and the latest balance of payments. In addition, implementing financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM) to the macroeconomic statistics, including the national accounts and balance of payments statistics, has resulted in revisions to the entire time series. Revisions to National Accounts (Industry Benchmarks) The revisions result from balancing the production and expenditure estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) within a supply and use framework. Before balancing, updated and new benchmarks (mainly based on the 2009 and 2010 annual economic surveys) were adopted for the production-based estimates. In addition, updated and new information from other data sources was included, resulting in revisions to the estimates for the years ended March 2009 and March Revisions to balance of payments Updated Inland Revenue data in other income has resulted in revisions to income from the rest of the world sector and the current account. The other revisions of note are: updated information from the international trade in commercial services census removing the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes from overseas income. Reserve Bank revision to money and credit statistics The Reserve Bank has revised its money and credit statistics back to 1990, due to improved reporting by some registered banks. This has resulted in revisions to interest paid and received by households, and therefore household saving. See Revisions to money and credit aggregates September 2012 for more information. Implementing financial service charge indirectly measured Implementation of FISIM resulted in changes to intermediate consumption, value added, operating surplus, property income, and final consumption expenditure for all sectors. The level of GDP is revised upwards for all years. The implementation of FISIM has resulted an increase in the level of GDP. The average impact on GDP was a 0.7 percent upward shift over the last 10 years. See Financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM) in the national accounts for more detail. Saving and net lending are not affected. 22

23 Contacts For media enquiries contact: Steffi Schuster Wellington For technical information contact: Ashish Rao or Victoria Ward Wellington For general enquiries contact our Information Centre: Phone: (toll free in New Zealand) (outside of New Zealand) info@stats.govt.nz Subscription service: Subscribe to information releases, including this one, by completing the online subscription form. Correction notifications: Subscribe to receive an if a correction notice is published for National Accounts (Income and Expenditure). Unsubscribe to correction notifications for National Accounts (Income and Expenditure). Subscribe to all to receive an if a correction notice is published for any of our information releases. Unsubscribe to all if you change your mind. 23

24 Tables The following tables are available in Excel format from the Downloads box. If you have problems viewing the files, see opening files and PDFs. Consolidated accounts tables 1.1 Consolidated accounts of the nation, gross domestic product and expenditure account, Consolidated accounts of the nation, national income and outlay account, Consolidated accounts of the nation, national capital account, Consolidated accounts of the nation, external account, Key aggregates, Sector accounts tables The following tables show breakdowns by institutional sector. 2.1 Producer enterprises sector accounts, Private corporate producer enterprises and producer boards sector accounts, Private non-corporate producer enterprises sector accounts, Central government enterprises sector accounts, Local government enterprises sector accounts, Financial intermediaries sector accounts, General government sector accounts, Central government sector accounts, Local government sector accounts, Private non-profit organisations serving households sector accounts, Households sector accounts, Rest of world sector accounts, Consolidated accounts full series 3.1 Consolidated accounts of the nation, gross domestic product and expenditure account, Consolidated accounts of the nation, national income and outlay account, Consolidated accounts of the nation, national capital account, Consolidated accounts of the nation, external account, Key aggregates, Capital stock tables These capital stock tables are by sector and asset type only. Capital stock tables by industry can be found in National Accounts (Industry Benchmarks): Year ended March Gross fixed capital formation by asset type, current prices, Gross fixed capital formation by sector, current prices, Net capital stock by asset type, current prices (replacement cost), Net capital stock by sector, current prices (replacement cost), Consumption of fixed capital by sector, current prices,